what are some guilde lines for mixing a bass guitar?

[lost project]

ok I seem to have a realy great guitar sound with the two guitars and a great drum sound and vocal sound as well and none of these seem to be competeing for sonic space,but i just can't get the bass to sound the way it does live..is there any advise you guys can give me?

 

[grimtraveller]

Can you describe the live sound you want to capture ? Is it boomy ? Punchy ? Growly ? Slappy ? Trebly ?

 

[Dogbreath]

Just some thoughts here...
Not sure what sound you're after but have you tried EQing some of the bottom out of the guitars and scooping the mids outta the kick? Maybe in the range of 100 hz up to 250 hz for guitar and up to 350 hz for the kick scoop.
?

I know you said you have a good guitar sound but it's about how they play together, not on their own... that counts.

Are you running your bass DI or miced? If micing a cab, ya may just have to re-think your mic position. Bass waves take a bit longer to develop so a little time finding the sweet spot may be in order.

If DIing, maybe some compression to help glue it together.

Like I said, just some random thoughts here and maybe something will click for ya.
But you're still looking for how they come together as a mix and not how they sound solo'd that matters.

 

[Ephi82]

1) I would be sure to DI the bass, with compression, even if you are micing the amp. Tracking a bass amp can be very dependent on the room and the technique, and thus can be hard to track well
2) +1 on making room for the bass by cutting low end on guitars. You may want to give the kick 80k and lower exclusively, and let the bass have 100k-400k on it's own.
3) In many ways, the perception of a great kick and bass sounds are often the combination of each instrument "locked" and complimenting the other
4) Therefore, it is MUCH easier to get great bass sounds when the bassist and drummer play very well together.
5) MOST IMPORTANT: the bass player's ability and the quality of the bass guitar

 

[happymatty]

5) MOST IMPORTANT: the bass player's ability and the quality of the bass guitar

+1

i like to cut alot of high out of the bass, like really high, 15-18khz. only in some cases though.

 

[Seafroggys]

To make bass fit, you really need to cut out a spot for it. Cutting out a spot for it in the bass drum in the low-mids, and also high-passing the guitars, really opens up room for the bass. Granted you may want to make a few cuts here and there on the bass itself, I find I cut more from other tracks to make room for it.

 

[moresound]

If micing a cab, ya may just have to re-think your mic position. Bass waves take a bit longer to develop so a little time finding the sweet spot may be in order.

Just to add a little here........You also have to take into consideration what microphone(s) your using to capture your source.
Don't be afraid of experimenting with different microphones or their polar patterns.
As an example, I use to have a terrible time capturing the stand up bass. I would mic up the neck and the f hole and the bow or plucking fingers one or all until it sounded good but it seamed like I was going through a lot of trouble for just one instrument and always deemed it a problematic instrument that always needed special care.
Until I read this little blurb about using a large diaphragm microphone in omni pattern about 2 to 3 feet off the floor and about 2 feet in front of the bass, well with just a few slight moves of the microphone from the suggested placement I got the best recording of stand up bass ever and still do to this day.
I would have never thought to using omni setting for bass until then.

 

[miroslav]

It's been a week...I guess he either figured it out or gave up on it!

 

[moresound]

I guess so, maybe he's like Arnold and "he'll be back".
I bet he forgot his pass word.

 

[haymedic]

I guess so, maybe he's like Arnold and "he'll be back".
I bet he forgot his pass word.

don't worry..... in three days there will be another thread asking, 'how do i record bass? any tips?'... and you can start all over again.

doesn't ANYONE search the threads for answers before they start the same ones over and over again!?

s

 

[Seafroggys]

and when they do, people bitch and complain about n00bs bumping threads

 

[Chibi Nappa]

To make bass fit, you really need to cut out a spot for it. Cutting out a spot for it in the bass drum in the low-mids, and also high-passing the guitars, really opens up room for the bass. Granted you may want to make a few cuts here and there on the bass itself, I find I cut more from other tracks to make room for it.

If the recording itself isn't right, yeah. But in that case I'd go back and record again instead of making all of those mixing cuts.


If you find yourself sitting at the mixing console and anything doesn't "fit", you should:

*re-record it in a way that does fit. May also include re-recording the other stuff around it to make the needed room.

or

*Press the mute button and just not use whatever it is that doesn't fit.

then

*If the above methods have already failed or can't be done because the performer moved out of the country or something, then start cutting a place for the missfit instrument in the mix. This is a last resort.

 

[lost project]

thanks!!

No i did remember my password. LOL!! thank you everybody for your tips it helped in the recording. soory i didnt get back, but i have been very busy with my band playing shows a lot and now it's time to get back to recording. So thanks they all helped alot. and yes im sure there will be more issues in the future. oh i only D.I. 'd the bass cause i could n't really capture the sound micing a 2 x 15 cab. in the room i had to work with